Ten wines to try in 2019

Looking for something slightly different to try in 2019? Margaret Rand, author of 101 Wines to Try Before You Die, recommends ten intriguing bottles to get you ahead of the curve...

Narrowing the wines of the world to just 101 for my book was an even tougher task than it would have been a decade ago. Every region is sprouting new, ambitious and innovative producers.

Apart from a few dinosaurs of the wine world, we’re seeing the end of over-oaking and overripeness, and producers in many areas are seeking ways of bringing down excessive sugar levels.

Scroll down to see Margaret’s ten wines to try in 2019

Should I pick new and barely tried names because their first releases had pleased me so much, or should I look for a track record? Should I focus on biodynamic growers, whose wines can be so wonderful even if the pseudo-science behind them can be so annoying? How many of the acknowledged icon wines of the world should I include?

This last was my biggest problem. Why leave out Latour and Lafite, Ausone and Petrus, when those wines – when I’ve had occasion to taste them – have knocked me sideways? Space, is the answer. To have included them would have meant leaving out the likes of Steve Pannell’s Grenache, Hatzidakis Assyrtiko or Wieninger’s Gemischter Satz.

And everybody knows about Latour and Lafite – you don’t need me to tell you they’re good.

Some regions I left out altogether. Some, given another 100 wines to play with, would have been more heavily represented.

I haven’t tasted every wine in the world. My personal list of wines I still need to try is probably a lot longer than 101. In the meantime, these 10 wines below offer a snapshot of the selection in my book, while also providing some drinking inspiration for the year ahead.